Automobile-signal.



F. A. WESCOTT.

AUTOMOBILE s161111. APPLICATION FILED Ausw. 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ik INVENTOR f si I Y I ATTRNEY i i ei.,

Feen e weseonw, on cnemne,

NEXV YORK, .SSIGNQEJ TG THE 'il' l SGNAL CO., INC.

ppiication rle?. August Si, 1918, Serial No. 117,923.

vTo ali whom it may concern.'

association with the rear end of a i'nocciv vehicle constructe to receive iiinmineting means which acts 1n conjunction witha transparent number plate for indicating the license number of a vehicie and; te aise pio vide an iiiuininai-ing Warning means, been the illuminated means fee the plete and the warning ineens heingcontreileoi by sniebie Aswitches Within reach of the driver ci the vehicle, the device being especiaily adapted for vehicles that have aieeciy 1neen wired but pcrtabie batteries can be insiaiied so that the device can be conveniently employed. by the use of them. A

Another object oi' equai importance as @he irst mentioned. object iesides in the provision of an impi'oved signai that is so censtructed that it can be readily connected to a suimbie bracket snppoit on the vehicle which was heretofore-used for supporting, the end 'light and the number piste, this invention aiming particularly te obviatc the empioymene of the end iight on she bi'acket support.

it is a more speeiic object of this invention to construct novel ineens for housing the signa, to provide means for ccnvenientiy mounting the electric nuib socken; within the housing; o arrange c:he bulb so es to tain the improved ieiiec'xox' in position; to provide means for iemoveoly supporting the number piate in position; Lo impi'ove 1he construction of the number pistes, and to provide. eiicienfJ means for rexnovebiy mounting the device on the vehicie.

A stili further obiect of my invention iei sides in the provision of acievice ci the chai'ecter described that is simple in construcion, eiicent in opeintion and one that can he manufactuie and 'place on the nini"- ket'at a minimum cosi.

Other objects as vWeii the nature, chni'- acteristic feaures and scope of my invention will be more 'readily understood iioni the foiiewing eseiipicn *seinen in eenne"" 'die accompanying Lii'ewings ane. nei in the claims iesining o' sion,

in the drawings:de v Figure l is a :Sinne eievaien my inven sion,

v Fig. 2 is e i nf .ninai secion en iine 2--2v n the {inecicn in which ci the aiiowspnni.

n ig', -3 is e, t ensverse secinn nahen on Line 3-3 of Fig. i in *che iii'eciion in 'which ehe eiews peineu Fig. is an en@ eieveion.

Fig. 5 is en eieveticnai ei" he has which is enipicyeei when ehe signei is being atjechefl .eeiiing inoe parienieiiy she is-anu ings in which siniiier ninneais designate iihe snai cc-eiespending pants ihrcughoui; ihe severai views, li provide e mein casing cninprising a ha any desiiabie incisi ander-cuz. tion. This nach is hente pre-vi lungi: iuciinei iecess 2 which eriiencis ....ioiigeghon the length incr-eci Whiie the nii-iniziai 'ef of the nach ae bent to provide-cime disposed ietaining grooves 23 aiiapie ceive ihe ifont wail ei iiiansimienz i plate if. tis desirable thai', i'ieiei. numbers on ehis plete he hiovfn iieiein ami painted on the innei1 surface a coioi' diiieien from ehe coioi' of the rest of the piste. The inwardv sliding movement the nannies plate is iiniited by n side piece ami fm-ined oil sec- T3 coioied giass 7. The side piece ni confoinls to the config-meiden and 'in aiinenieni. with ihs einer thereof. The piste is aise pi-cvicieci nii iange 5 which serves io i'eain a piece of ,colored giass 7 :ig-ainsi *che sid-e. encihei secmringir iai'xge 8 is cairiei oy the hack ci* rear Waii l smi sei'ves ie insnie 'i3-ne ieienn tion ohe giass 7 in Wopenpcsiion. Einf ciber side piece 9 conneccd on the epposie end oflthe fusing has iis cnei: edge benr inwaidiy to provide snppoiiii l() which iiaciiiaes ehe insei'iiion o ninnher plate-el. ,is is desiraifie ihaiside 5 and 9 have openings i. Leeinsc that when the iilninineiing means is secnifed anni iight ed the cnici'efi rays Wiii pojiee" i thi/'onlin the openings because cf she niece nf coioie ginss, This ange l0 aise iiaeiiiteizes ifne securing of another piece. 01j giess iii iiicireni;

in color from the piece 7, the inner end being securely held in positionby means ot a securing flange l2 carried by the inner surface of the back 1. The flanges 8 and 12 may be similarly formed and attached to the back Wall 1.

lreparatory to the insertion of the number plate 49 l have arranged longitudinally in the casing a transversely curved reector plate lf3, the side et ges of the plate being arranged against the edges of the recess 2 as illustrated to advantage in Fig. 3 of the. drawings. The reflector. plate 1S and recess i). are provided vritha plurality oli alining openings 14 and in securing the plate in position l have employed an improved illuminating means for the casing which consists of electric sockets 15, the sockets' l5 passing through the alining openings 14. lt is to be noticed that the sockets are. provided with collars 16 between the plate 13 and the'. back. The collars then also serve to maintain the plate in spaced relation to the back and to form one Wall oll the recess. annular flanges 17 are integral -with the sockets and bear against the outer surface or". the plates. rEhe flanges may be held in position by suitable fastening devices such as are shown by the bolts 18 and nuts 19.- Suitable electric lamps 20 are connected in the sockets, the light from the lamps being rellected through the `lass by the plate 13. lt is desired that the vehicle to which the device is connected be vrired so that it Will be onlynecessary to bolts which extend through the respective ends oit the plateV and recess engaging spacing collars 23 which have been previously arranged therebetween, being finally connected by nuts Arranged on the body ot' the rear Wall 1 and secured intermediate the ends thereof by a block is a secondary or auxiliary casing. As shown, it consists' of a substantially semi-cylindrical body 26 the outer edges ofO which are bent 'to provide flanges Q7 that cooperate with securing flanges 28. These flanges are secured tothe body, to provide oppositely disposed grooves for retaining a front transparent Wall or number plate 29. llt is desirable that a part of this glass be ground so as to procure the Word Stop so that the Word will only appear when the illuminating means is lighted'. One side wall 30 i-onnected to the body has a flange 31 arranged in alinelnent with the flanges 27 so as to limit the movement of the number plate and retain it in position. The oppo- -site side 32 is bent inwardly to provide a flange 33 which is in alinement with the flanges 28 and serves te support and guide the plate in position. An electrical socket extends through an openingA in the semi-cylindrical body. An annular flange i 36 bears against the inner surface of the casing while nut bolt arrangement 37 serves to retain the socket in position. An electri cal- 'bulb`38 is removably connected in the socket and serves to illuminate the casing so that the Word Stop or other Word can be conveniently displayed to anv motorist in the rear o1 the vehicle to which the device is attached. Contacts 39 receive the conducting wires 40 and it is desired that the device be controlled. by the driver of the vehicle. Supporting brackets 41 are connected to the main casing and to the sides of the second ary casing to insure the tension of this casing in proper position.

In order to connect the entire device to a motor vehicle, I have illustrated a conventional 'orm of bracket 4Q to which the usual rear end or tail lamps and number plates are connected. This bracket consists of a main vertical rod and a horizontally' extending arm 44 integraltherewith and vertically eX- tending auxiliary vertical arms 45 arranged parallel to each other. 'Usually the rear end light. is connected to thelvertical arm 43 while the number plate is connected to the upstanding arms 45. In the present instance however, I provide a tubular bar 4G provided with a plurality of uniformly spaced registering openings 47. Suitable fastening devices extend horizontally from the recess 2 in the rea-r Wall and have spacing sleeves 49 ar` ranged thereabout, the bar 46 being finally secured to the outer ends of these fastening devices, the sleeves holding the bar in spaced parallel relation With the rear surface thereof. A vertical sleeve 50 is integral with one of the ends of the bar 46 and is adapted or engagement with the vert-ical arm 43 of the bracket support on the vehicle being adjustably held in position by means 0f a set Scretv 51. Bolts 5:2 and 53 extendthrough openings 47 inthe bar 46 and are engageable by inner nuts 54. It'Will benoted that the bolt 524 is arranged so as to engage one ofthe 'vertical arms 45 and the bar is held in rigid relation With respect to .this arm by means of a. winged nut 54. -The other bolt 53 may be inserted in any ofthe openings 47 should the distance between the arms 45 be varied or changed. This will provide for adjiistment, that when made may be retained by wing nuts 5.4.

in use .it isthought thatthe advantages of my invention will be readily apparent. 'At this point it may be stated that it is desirable that the main number plate 4 have White letters and numerals representing thel license number as `Well as the initials of the' State issuing the license. It is preferable that a portion of the glass be painted bla-ck. 'As

indicated by the numeral 56 a portion of the i glass may be colored red and thereby conform to any law requiring a tail light independent o't' any illuminated licensypumber. By employing an auxiliary casing; the stop signal will be displayed only when the illuininating means in this casing is illuminated. It will be apparent that when the illuminating means in the main casing is lighted the transparent plate because of its arrangement provides both the end light and the illuminated number plate while the stop signal is constructed so that it will be displayed only at the desired time.

Although I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention I desire it to be understood that I am not to be limited to the exact detail shown, however, l desire that great stresshe laid upon the arrangement otl the signal connect-ing the main and .secondary casing and the illuminating means which act upon the transparent plates will display signals. Attention is also directed to the reflector plate and means for arranging it within the casing as well as the means for connecting the guiding plate to the suitable bracket on the motor vehicle.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it can easily'be seen that I have provided a device that is simple in construction, containing but a f'ew simple parts that can be cheaply manufactured and assembled and when assembled can be placed upon the marketI and sold at a minimum' cost.

It will be understoodvthat the above description and accompanying drawings comprehend only the general embodiment of my invention and that various minor changes in detail of construction, proportion and arrangement ot the parts may be made within the scope of the appended claims and without sacrificing any of the advantages of myL invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A vehicle signal, comprising a main casing having a rear wall and including a longitudinal recess, the outer edges of said rear wall being bent to provide the oppositely disposed grooves, a transparent number plate slidably and removably mounted in the grooves in the casing, a transversely curved reflector plate arranged longitudinally within the casing, means for fastening and spacing the reflector so that its longituH dinal edges engage with the arcuate portion of thc rear wall to form a chamber between the wall and reflector and closing the recess, electric sockets connected to the reflector' plate and passing through the recess, electric bulbs Vin the sockets 'for illuminating the casing so that. the rays therefrom will be directed through the transparent plate by the reflector plate, anda bracket carried by the rear wall of the casing and adapted for connecting the device to a vehicle.

A vehicle signal which comprises a casing having a rear wall arcuate in cross section and including a longitudinal recess, the outer edges of said wall being bent to provide oppositely disposed grooves, a transparent plate slidably and ren'iovably mounted in the grooves in the casing, an elongated transversely curved reflector plate arranged longitudinally within the casing, means 'for securing the reflector in a spaced relation to a portion of the rear wall `so that the vsides of the reflector engage with the arcuate portlon of Said wall and the, reflector serves to 4 cover said recess.y electric sockets connected' to the reflector plate and passing througlrtlie recess, electric bulbs in the sockets for illuminating the casing s o that rays therefrom will be directed through the transparent plate by the reflector plate, and a bracket. on the main casing for engaging with a suitable support on a vehicle.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRED A. WESCOTT. Titnesses Trios. Horrnn, N. H. PALMER. 

